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Verizon Makes Customers Wait Longer for Upgrades

Shrink said:
Got it!

Actually, I, too, was uclear. What I'm asking is if it the change really does constitute a change in the Contract. If the 4 month early upgrade is a policy, but not specifically stipulated in the Contract, then changing the rules does not constitute a violation of the Contract, just a change in policy.

Like you, I'm just wondering. I have no expertise at all in contract law!!:p
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I don't believe the 20 month thing was ever part of the contract. In fact, I don't think anything regarding upgrades is part of the contract at all. All the contract is, I believe, is you agreeing to another 24 months of service on said device. Anything else that comes with it is a perk Verizon throws in in order to get you to sign said contract.

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HenryDJP said:
This is great for Verizon customers. Now after their 24 month agreement they can upgrade to T-Mobile.
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They have had this option since, well, forever... If all it takes for an unhappy customer is an upgrade offered to them four months prior to contract expiration, I feel sorry for said customer.

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tjl3 said:
Honestly, you get what you pay for. T-Mobile can promise all they want that they are going to become industry leaders, but until then, Verizon is leaps and bounds ahead of them in terms of coverage and service in many areas. People who can afford Verizon's premium will continue buying their service.
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Apparently TMO gets to enjoy seven years of free roaming on AT&T's 3G network as a result of their lost acquisition deal. I am interested in seeing what people who are new TMO converts say about their coverage. On paper, this sounds fantastic; the best deal there is, frankly.
 
senseless said:
I agree with Verizon on this one. The contract period is 2 years, not 20 months. The subsidized phone business model is silly to begin with. There is no free lunch.
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There's not agreeing or disagreeing here. It's their network, and their contracts, so they can do whatever they want. Just dumb business practice, IMO.

The 20 month upgrade cycle was designed for customer retention by offering subscribers the chance to get a new phone before they were free agents. Now they're just giving the expired contract subscriber more incentive to look at other carriers.
 
That is just complete crap. I am really getting annoyed with Verizon these days! I switched to them from AT&T because of signal issues when I leave my area. First it was the fact at how expensive it is to have minimum plan that I'm on an the sad part is I have a huge company discount. I was told by the sales rep that Verizon to Verizon was free and I had night and weekend minutes, well not according to the phone customer service rep I spoke to when I was close to going over my minutes. an now they are extending my wait to upgrade, my upgrade date just happens to be in January 2014! Now it won't be for several months later..
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Reality Check:

No one should be complaining or have any concern based on the fact that everyone here keeps saying there isn't much difference between the 4, 4S, and 5... a full two years worth of iPhone models. :D
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I have never seen anyone add the 4 into that equation. I have seen plenty of people compare the 4s and the 5 (I include myself into that one). I don't see how the 4 can be compared at all. There are quite a few KEY software features completely missing on the 4. Just my own observations, of course.

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I would be interested in seeing the percentage of Verizon customers who actually upgrade on a 20 month cycle. My gut tells me that the vast majority wait until their contract is up; that is when you start getting the emails and texts to upgrade anyway.
 
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rdlink said:
This is kind of dumb, if you ask me. One of the benefits for the carrier on allowing the early upgrade is holding a carrot in front of the user that will get them to re-up before their contract is up. Now, they're going to put me in a position to make my carrier decision without any hindrance of the contract.

Cutting their own noses off to spite their face, IMO
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Not to mention the fact that they can also get rid of old phone stock before the new models come out too.
 
Wouldn't Apple, Google, MS, Samsung, etc want to encourage earlier updates in order to sell more phones. Wouldn't they support the TMob model?

These companies have vast amounts of money and a shared concern, so why wouldn't they get together and put pressure on the carriers?
 
rdlink said:
There's not agreeing or disagreeing here. It's their network, and their contracts, so they can do whatever they want. Just dumb business practice, IMO.

The 20 month upgrade cycle was designed for customer retention by offering subscribers the chance to get a new phone before they were free agents. Now they're just giving the expired contract subscriber more incentive to look at other carriers.
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Yes, but they can lower monthly rates if they limit the subsidy costs. That would retain me.
 
ECUpirate44 said:
If only sprint didn't suck I'd be done with Verizon.
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Why Sprint? I am leaving Sprint because there service is horrible. Plus Sprint will not unlock the phone at the end of the contract. I should be able to get my phone unlocked, by the carrier, at the end of the contract. I plan on sending a nice letter to Dan Hesse when I switch to T-Mobile which will be Monday.
 
Taz Mangus said:
Why Sprint? I am leaving Sprint because there service is horrible. Plus Sprint will not unlock the phone at the end of the contract. I should be able to get my phone unlocked, by the carrier, at the end of the contract. I plan on sending a nice letter to Dan Hesse when I switch to T-Mobile which will be Monday.
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CDMA phones cannot be unlocked.

That's A GSM thing
 
lifeinhd said:
I... deserve it? Because I signed on several months ago after making an informed decision based on pricing, coverage, speed, and a host of other factors, without any idea of what the future might hold with Verizon or any other carrier?

...okay then.
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Protest it, in fact, the might be ground for terminating your contract, I am waiting for a bunch o f ambulance to go after them for a class action lawsuit
 
thehustleman said:
CDMA phones cannot be unlocked.

That's A GSM thing
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When Sprint first got the iPhone 4S it was shipped to them from Apple completely unlocked. Sprint then pushed through an update that locked the iPhone Sprint with a carrier profile update. I have been on the phone with Apple to verify that. If I go into Apple and buy a unlocked iPhone I can use it on any carrier US CDMA and GSM. I can't even use the iPhone on AT&T because Sprint refuses to unlock the GSM portion for the US, only works on international use.
 
carlgo said:
Wouldn't Apple, Google, MS, Samsung, etc want to encourage earlier updates in order to sell more phones. Wouldn't they support the TMob model?

These companies have vast amounts of money and a shared concern, so why wouldn't they get together and put pressure on the carriers?
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"so why wouldn't they get together and put pressure on the carriers?" Because this would be called a cartel and their managers would go to jail. Besides, their interests are vastly different. Apple is the one that gets the highest phone subsidies here. They are surely interested in making wireless providers to pay them. Other companies do not get that much in subsidies and they would actually benefit if the providers got rid of subsidies. Just look at how Samsung is beating Apple by a huge margin in the countries where phone subsidies do not exist. iPhone is not competitive on price. It survives thanks to subsidies.
 
Taz Mangus said:
When Sprint first got the iPhone 4S it was shipped to them from Apple completely unlocked. Sprint then pushed through an update that locked the iPhone Sprint with a carrier profile update. I have been on the phone with Apple to verify that. If I go into Apple and buy a unlocked iPhone I can use it on any carrier US CDMA and GSM. I can't even use the iPhone on AT&T because Sprint refuses to unlock the GSM portion for the US, only works on international use.
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Yes, on that phone because it's a hybrid gsm/CDMA phone, but if you buy it unlocked, no, you can't activate it on sprint or Verizon.

CDMA carriers tend to only activate their devices
 
senseless said:
Yes, but they can lower monthly rates if they limit the subsidy costs. That would retain me.
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LOL. The only thing that is ever going to get them to lower rates is competition that's taking business from them. They're always going to take every dollar they can scrape off the top. If they had any intention to lower prices they could have done it long ago. Don't believe me? Buy a phone from someone on Craigslist and activate it on their network. See if they give you a break because they don't have to subsidize.
 
Really been considering dropping my Verizon account and taking the lines to T-Mobile. Their LTE coverage is fantastic and unmatched in the industry but what good is it when I have to monitor shared data among 5 lines and always risk the possibility of massive overages?
 
Tiger8 said:
Protest it, in fact, the might be ground for terminating your contract, I am waiting for a bunch o f ambulance to go after them for a class action lawsuit
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Okay, but saying I *deserve* Verizon's abuse is a little harsh, is it not?

Slightly OT, I think I've noticed a trend. People seem to become extra passionate about their choices when forced to choose from a variety of really poor options. It's as though smugly touting their choice helps reaffirm their own confidence in whatever they decided. Whether it's Sprint vs Verizon vs ATT, or Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge, or even dare I say iOS vs Android, people are quick to tear up others' decisions when they don't match their own, but this behavior seems much more prevalent when all of the options have major flaws. You don't hear Camry owners ragging on Accord owners, or Pepsi drinkers going after Coke drinkers, because they're all relatively fine products.

Tl;dr, it's crazy how quick we are to defend multi-billion-dollar companies that don't really give a crap while they continue to put out flawed products.
 
lifeinhd said:
Okay, but saying I *deserve* Verizon's abuse is a little harsh, is it not?

Slightly OT, I think I've noticed a trend. People seem to become extra passionate about their choices when forced to choose from a variety of really poor options. It's as though smugly touting their choice helps reaffirm their own confidence in whatever they decided. Whether it's Sprint vs Verizon vs ATT, or Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge, or even dare I say iOS vs Android, people are quick to tear up others' decisions when they don't match their own, but this behavior seems much more prevalent when all of the options have major flaws. You don't hear Camry owners ragging on Accord owners, or Pepsi drinkers going after Coke drinkers, because they're all relatively fine products.

Tl;dr, it's crazy how quick we are to defend multi-billion-dollar companies that don't really give a crap while they continue to put out flawed products.
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Maybe it was, Sorry :(

V is still evil
 
Don't bother or affect me at all. I don't plan on renewing any contracts again. I pay full price for the phone and let the ball roll.
 
lucastatic said:
The truth?

Oligopoly.

What people don't realize is that switching carriers doesn't actually do anything, nor does boycotting. It's all the same, just with different labels. You are simply switching to a different cabin on the same rotten ship. America!

The people who say "vote with your wallet" always amaze me, as if doing that is anything other than stoking your own pride. The carriers don't care. The people you're telling don't care. The hundreds of people that may know you in your immediate vicinity don't care. The thousands that don't know you in your state don't care. The millions across the country, many of which are happy customers of said carrier, don't care either. Small, disjointed movements aren't movements.

For every person who bails on Verizon to switch to AT&T or Sprint, another is at that same breaking point with the opposite carrier, and is about to switch to Verizon.

Personally, I want to see them all burn. :(
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Sad but oh so true! Very well said! Much kudos to you.

:)
 
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